Ralph
It was a bang, like an explosion of fireworks… But there weren't meant to be any fireworks. I was pretty sure it wasn't anyone's anniversary tonight, heh, not like last time. I popped my head outside my house, and grabbed the door gently on my way out, no use, it fell straight off the second I touched it. But that was soon forgotten. I stumbled out into the street where the new'uns now lived.
I wasn't the only one seeing what the commotion was; a lot of others were attempting to spy an eye too. Cuburt was stumbling around, attempting to communicate. 'Shame no one expect Felix really understands him properly. He hurried to me, with binoculars wrapped around his long overgrown nose. I glanced at him curiously, before taking them from him and peering into the distance. The penthouse was fine, no fires… No fireworks, I wasn't quite sure what could be wrong until I saw the black smoke coming from the tunnel where the small train transported to… Game Central! It hit me like a ton of bricks, not literally of course, but I raced forward as fast as my legs would carry me.
"Vanellope!" I was shouting as loud as I could, my feet pounding the ground beneath me, leaving oversized footprints behind me. "Vanellope! Are you okay?"
My heart sank when I saw the state of the tunnel, terrible images flashing through my head, her squashed under those bricks, afraid, scared. But it was then that I heard it, her voice, squeaking my name over and over.
Vanellope
I don't even remember much of what happened after I left Ralph. I was just happy, y'know? I actually started skipping my way back to the small station, ready to go to bed before the arcade opened when it happened. I didn't even see it, just one second I was in the cart, slowly setting off and the next WHAM. I was under a tunnel, which was slowly collapsing. It must have been at least five minutes before anyone came to help. I remember just laying there, trying to think. I wasn't scared, Ralph was nearby, and he would save me. Ralph. Heh, he really was my hero. And I loved him, yep. I was almost scared he might have gone to sleep, but then I heard it. His voice. He was shouting my name! He was here!
"Ralph!" I screamed, as loud as I could manage, my lungs almost giving in from the huge amount of rubble around me. I shouted again, and again, until suddenly a bright flash of light flooded my eyes, and there we was, he freed my almost imminently, but then again what else could you expect from his humungous hands? Heh, But I was glad. He lifted me up and carried me back to the new neighborhood.
"I don't understand what's gone on, that shouldn't happen. We'll go find Felix, he'll be able to fix it." he gulped, but I sniffed in frustration when I realized that I'd seen Felix in Game Central just before I arrived; he waved as he passed me, before heading off to Hero's Duty. But… If Felix was on the other side who was going to fix the tunnel? I told Ralph that Felix wasn't here and I'd past him when I came here before, and he just looked dumbfounded. We'd need to sort this out before opening time.
We didn't. I knew Sugar Rush would be fine for a few days, they did fine without me before, and they all knew how to race. But Fix-It Felix however was a completely different story, without Felix, Ralph told me there'd be no way for the game to work as intended. Ralph was sure Felix would be able to fix the tunnel somehow; maybe he could fix it from the other side. But Ralph was just glad I wasn't hurt, not badly, only a few scratches, and he'd soon fixed them up for me. And it wasn't long until I was covered up in small bandages and snuggled up in his house.
"You'll have to stay here for now Kid, at least until Felix comes back to fix the tunnel. Still don't understand exactly what happened though, can you remember why the tunnel collapsed?" No. I couldn't, not at all, it was such a blur, one second I was fine, the next I was crushed against the floor by a bunch of rocks. Bah, I was just so lucky Ralph came to my rescue, but I didn't tell him that... He probably knew anyway!
Ralph went to stand up, and stepped to the door, when he stopped and looked at me.
"Please don't go." I stammered, looking up at him, "Stay here, I really don't wanna be here alone after what happened, you know?" He smiled, and sat down next to me. "Thanks Stinkbrain." I smiled, before curling up next to him. Ralph just smiled, and fell asleep within a few minutes, and you know, as I lay next to him, I managed to fall asleep faster than I had in a long time.
Ralph
Everyone was scrambling about when I woke up, wondering what to do. Decided I'd head on up to my starting position, and we'd try work something out. But as I stood there and waited, and waited, and waited, nothing happened. The lights to the arcade didn't come on. And everyone anxious, I decided to take Vanellope up to the top of the Penthouse with me, so we could get a better look at Sugar Rush. We could see all the characters, they were all lined up, waiting for a race, and all seemed just as confused as we did. I peered into the few other games that were visible, and those characters looked dumbfounded too. Maybe Litwak was ill, and wasn't opening up today? In any case though, this was good news with what had happened already.
"Wonder why the arcade hasn't opened up yet." Said Vanellope, as she dangled from my shoulder, squinting to make out anything from beyond the screen of glass.
"No idea kid, Litwak's probably ill or something, it's not like it hasn't happened before." Vanellope seemed to shrug at that, which was when I remembered, of course she wouldn't know. Vanellope had never been active in game when Litwak wasn't here; everyday had been a struggle for her up until he came along, she just wanted to race, and probably didn't know if the arcade was open or not, it wasn't like there was a night time in Sugar Rush.
"Ah well, come on Ralph, ol' buddy ol' pal, let's find something to do, don't want you getting bored now do we?" she laughed, glitching down from my arm, and jumping to my feet. I just laughed and picked her up, jumping down from the building, and landing with a splat in the mud. "You're right Vanellope, come on, let's make the most of our day off."
